(Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid, 2006), Rulyrana flavopunctata

ISSN 1809-127X (online edition)
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© 2009 Check List and Authors
Journal of Species Lists and Distribution
NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
Amphibia, Anura, Centrolenidae, Chimerella mariaelenae (Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid,
2006), Rulyrana flavopunctata (Lynch and Duellman, 1973), Teratohyla pulverata
(Peters, 1873), and Teratohyla spinosa (Taylor, 1949): Historical records,
distribution extension and new provincial record in Ecuador
Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia
Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas & Ambientales, calle Diego de Robles y Ave.
Interoceánica, Campus Cumbayá, Edificio Darwin, DW-010A, Quito, Ecuador.
King's College London, Department of Geography, Strand, London, United Kingdom.
E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
The Natural History Museum (BMNH) at
London, UK, houses an important and historic
collection of amphibians and reptiles from
Ecuador that includes many types and some of the
first specimens collected in the country. During
the past months I studied the collection of
Centrolenidae deposited at the BMNH and found
different specimens of glassfrogs that provide
interesting information about this little-known
group of endangered amphibians, including
historical records of species just recently reported
from the country, distribution extensions, and new
provincial records.
Chimerella mariaelenae (Cisneros-Heredia &
McDiarmid, 2006): This species was recently
described based on one specimen collected in
Cloud forests on the eastern slopes of the
Cordillera Oriental, province of ZamoraChinchipe, Andes of Ecuador (Cisneros-Heredia
and McDiarmid 2006). Chimerella mariaelenae
was later reported from three different localities in
Low-Montane forests on the provinces of Napo
and
Tungurahua
(Cisneros-Heredia
and
Guayasamin
2006;
Cisneros-Heredia
and
McDiarmid 2007) and was collected at one
locality in Cloud forests on the province of
Morona-Santiago (Museo de Zoología, Pontificia
Universidad Católica del Ecuador, QCAZ 31643,
collected at the town of 9 de Octubre, 1670-1715
m above sea level - a.s.l.; Fig. 1). Herein I report
what is probably the first specimen of C.
mariaelenae to reach a scientific collection.
Specimen BMNH 1912.11.1.67 was collected at
"El Topo, R. Pastaza, E. Ecuador, 4,200 ft" = El
Check List, Campinas, 5(4): 912–916, December, 2009.
Topo river, an affluent of the Pastaza river, ca.
1400 m a.s.l., by M. G. Palmer in 1912 (Fig. 1).
Apparently, it was collected together with the
holotype of Nymphargus cochranae (Goin 1961)
and two specimens of Rulyrana flavopunctata (see
below). It is an adult female (snout-vent length,
SVL = 20.3 mm) with large cream-colored
oviductal eggs. Structurally, it is very similar to
the male holotype, including the dorsal pattern
with dark punctuations and larger flecks, the
truncate snout, and iridophore layers covering the
pericardium, hepatic and gastrointestinal peritonea
but absent on the parietal peritoneum. Due to
preservation artifacts, the general background
coloration is olive-green, which seems to be due
to the fluid used to preserve the specimen by the
BMNH at the time. Chimerella mariaelenae
seems to be continuously distributed across the
Low Montane Evergreen and Cloud forests across
the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental of
Ecuador (Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid 2006;
Cisneros-Heredia
and
Guayasamin
2006;
Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid 2007; this
publication), and may also occur in southern
Colombia due to habitat continuity.
Rulyrana flavopunctata (Lynch & Duellman,
1973): This species is currently known in Ecuador
from several localities in Foothill Evergreen and
Low Montane Evergreen forests across the
northern Amazonian provinces of Sucumbíos,
Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza (Lynch and
Duellman
1973;
Cisneros-Heredia
and
McDiarmid 2006; 2007) and it was recently
collected in the province of Morona-Santiago
912
Notes on Geographic Distribution
(QCAZ 27356-58 collected at 6.8 km N of the
town of Limon, ca. 980 m a.s.l.; QCAZ 32265 at
the town of 9 de Octubre, 1670-1715 m a.s.l.; Fig.
2). Here I report what are apparently the first
specimens of R. flavopunctata to reach a scientific
collection. Specimen BMNH 1913.6.24.4 was
collected at "Zamora, 3250 ft, E. Ecuador" =
Zamora, 1080 m a.s.l., province of ZamoraChinchipe, by C. Carrión in 1933 (Fig. 2). It is a
first provincial record and the southernmost
record for the species, extending its range ca. 140
km S from the previous known closest locality
(6.8 km N of the town of Limon, MoronaSantiago). Two specimens, BMNH 1912.11.1.6970, were collected at "El Topo, R. Pastaza, E.
Ecuador, 4,200 ft" = El Topo river, an affluent of
the Pastaza river, ca. 1400 m a.s.l., province of
Tungurahua, by M. G. Palmer in 1912. They
provide the first locality for the species in the
province of Tungurahua and were collected
together with the holotype of Nymphargus
cochranae (Goin, 1961) and one specimen of
Chimerella mariaelenae (see above). Rulyrana
flavopunctata seems to be continuously
distributed across Foothill Evergreen and Low
Montane Evergreen forests on the eastern slopes
of the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia and
eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental of
Ecuador (Lynch and Duellman 1973; CisnerosHeredia and McDiarmid 2006; 2007; Lynch 2006;
this publication), and may also occur in
northern Peru due to habitat continuity of foothill
forests.
The two specimens from the province of
Tungurahua slightly differ from other known
conspecific specimens by having less-dense
melanophores on the dorsal surfaces of the body,
fingers, and toes (which produces a light lavender
coloration instead of the purplish coloration
observed in most specimens); they also exhibit
less hand and foot webbing (see Table 1), which is
herein interpreted as intraspecific variation.
Otherwise they match all other morphological
characters known for R. flavopunctata. However,
further research should be conducted as cryptic
taxa may occur within the highly-variable and
widely-distributed R. flavopunctata.
Figure 1. Known localities of Chimerella mariaelenae in Ecuador. Province of Napo: 1 = Cascada de San
Rafael; 2 = Hollín river. Province of Tungurahua: 3 = points to two nearby localities, Negro river and El Topo
river. Province of Morona-Santiago: 4 = town of 9 de Octubre. Province of Zamora-Chinchipe: 5 = western slope
of Contrafuerte de Tzunantza, (type locality).
Check List, Campinas, 5(4): 912–916, December, 2009.
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Notes on Geographic Distribution
Teratohyla pulverata (Peters, 1873): This species
was recently reported from Ecuador, based on
specimens collected at six localities in the
Lowland Non-Seasonal Evergreen forests on the
northwestern lowlands, in the provinces of
Esmeraldas and Pichincha (Bustamante et al.
2007). Four specimens of T. pulverata deposited
at the BMNH correspond to the first Ecuadorian
specimens to reach a scientific collection.
Specimens
BMNH
1902.5.27.24-25
were
collected at "R. Durango, 350 ft., N. W. Ecuador"
= Durango river, ca. 110 m a.s.l., province of
Esmeraldas (specimen BMNH 1902.5.27.24 is the
type of Centrolenella petersi Goin, a synonym of
T. pulverata); BMNH 1902.7.29.36-37 were
collected at "Rio Sapayo, N. W. Ecuador, 450 ft"
= Zapallo river, ca. 150 m a.s.l., province of
Esmeraldas (Fig. 2). Teratohyla pulverata
occurs from eastern Honduras to Panama
(Caribbean versant) and from Costa Rica to
northwestern Ecuador (Pacific versant; Savage
1967; Savage and Starrett 1967; Ruiz-Carranza et
al. 1996; Ibañez et al. 1999; Köhler 2001;
McCraine and Wilson 2002; Savage 2002;
Kubicki 2007; Bustamante et al. 2007; Cisneros-
Heredia and McDiarmid 2007; this publication).
Teratohyla spinosa (Taylor, 1949): This species
was first reported from Ecuador by Duellman
and Burrowes (1989) from specimens collected at
the province of Los Ríos. It was later reported
from the provinces of Pichincha and Esmeraldas
by Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid (2005;
2007). One specimen deposited at the
BMNH, collected at "Salidero, nw. Ecuador, 350
ft" = Salidero, near Bulún, Bogota river, ca. 110
m. a.s.l. (Fig. 2), province of Esmeraldas,
corresponds to the first Ecuadorian specimen
to reach a scientific collection and a new locality
in the province of Esmeraldas, filling the
gap between Colombian and Ecuadorian
localities. Cochranella spinosa occurs from
northeastern Honduras to Panama (Caribbean
versant) and from Costa Rica to northwestern
Ecuador (Pacific versant; Savage 1967; Savage
and Starrett 1967; Ruiz-Carranza et al. 1996;
Ibañez et al. 1999; McCraine and Wilson
2002; Savage 2002; Kubicki 2007; CisnerosHeredia and McDiarmid 2005; 2007; this
publication).
Figure 2. Historical localities of Rulyrana flavopunctata (1–3), Teratohyla pulverata (4–5), and Teratohyla
spinosa (6) in Ecuador, based on material deposited at the Natural History Museum (BMNH), London, UK.
Province of Morona-Santiago: 1 = town of 9 de Octubre; 2 = 6.8 km N of the town of Limon. Province of
Zamora-Chinchipe: 3 = Zamora. Province of Esmeraldas: 4 = Durango river; 5 = Zapallo river; 6 = Bogotá river.
Check List, Campinas, 5(4): 912–916, December, 2009.
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Notes on Geographic Distribution
Table 1. Hand and foot webbing variation in three species of Rulyrana flavopunctata deposited at the Natural
History Museum (BMNH), London, UK.
Specimen
Hand webbing
Foot webbing
BMNH
1912.11.1.69 (11)*
Basal between I and II,
II 2 – 4 III 2+ – 2 IV
I 1+ – 2 II 1– 21/2 III 1 – 21/3 IV 21/3 – 1+ V
BMNH
1912.11.1.70 (12)*
Basal between I and II,
II 2 – 4 III 2 – 2 IV
I 1+ – 2 II 1 – 2 III 1 – 2 IV 2 – 1+ V
BMNH
1933.6.24.4
Basal between I and II,
II 11/2 – 3 III 11/2 – 1+ IV
I 0+ – 1 II 0+ – 11/2 III 1 – 11/2 IV 21/2 – 1 V
* Both specimens are in a container tagged BMNH 1912.11.1.69-70, however there is no indication about which
one is 69 or 70 in the flask or in the BMNH catalogue; instead the specimens are individually tag with the
numbers 11 and 12. I herein use the number BMNH 1912.11.1.69 for the specimen tagged with #11 and BMNH
1912.11.1.70 for the adult female tagged with #12.
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Acknowledgments: I am deeply thankful to David Gower and Mark Wilkinson (The Natural History Museum,
Department of Zoology, London, BMNH) for allowing my access to the museum, provision of working space, and
continuous help; to Colin McCarthy and Barry Clarke for their help during my work at the BMNH, and to Leonardo
Zurita, Felipe Arteaga, Tatiana Prieto-López, Kaisa Viljarand, and Marcin Gajewczyk for their friendship and
continuous help while conducting this study in London, UK. Research was supported by María Elena Heredia, Laura
Heredia and grants from the Russel E. Train Education for Nature Program of the World Wildlife Fund WWF and from
Conservation International.
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Received: December 2008
Revised: October 2009
Accepted: November 2009
Published online: December 2009
Editorial responsibility: Marcelo N. de C. Kokubum
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